Cliff Yates

Q: What were you like at school?

'The clown of the class.' That's what Mr Jones the PE teacher wrote on my school report.

Q: What did you want to be when you were a child?

A bass guitarist in a rock band. I once told one of my teachers that I wanted to be a tramp. I still haven't decided what I want to be when I grow up.

Q: Which three words describe you best?

Enthusiastic, optimistic, tall.

Q: What is your favourite word?

Rain.

Q: What makes you cringe?

Realising that I've said the wrong thing to the wrong person at the wrong time.

Q: When did you last have a really good laugh?

Last night, watching 'Curb Your Enthusiasm' on the telly.

Q: What do you do as a hobby?

Write, read, listen to music, walk around, support Aston Villa.

Q: What’s your favourite food?

Roast potatoes & onion gravy, apple crumble with custard.

Q: What do you day dream about?

Whatever I happen to be reading or writing.

Q: What’s the most outrageous thing you’ve done?

Becoming an English teacher, after my own disastrous time at school. In fact I really enjoyed teaching - had a great time.

Q: What profession other than yours would you like to attempt?

Actor.

Q: Do you feel younger or older than your current age?

Yes. I've been twenty-one for a few years now.

Q: If you could meet one person, dead or alive, who would it be?

Either of my grandmothers - both of them died before I was born.

Q: What quality do you most admire in a person?

Compassion.

Q: What is the most interesting place you have ever visited?

The Marais quarter in Paris.

Q: What is the best advice anyone has ever given you?

Take care of today and tomorrow will take care of itself.

Q: What would you most like to change about yourself?

I'd like the ability to be in two places at once.

Q: What is your most treasured possession?

My health.

Q: What strange habits do you have?

Say 'OK?' a lot when I'm explaining things. OK? Scratch my head when I'm talking.

Q: What has life taught you?

To prepare to be surprised.

Q: What are you afraid of?

Some of the stuff that happens in dreams (nightmares).

Q: How long have you been a writer?

I started writing 'seriously' in the 1980s.

Q: Was there a specific moment in your life when you decide to become a writer?

I always wanted to be a writer, though sometimes I forgot that I did.

Q: Where do you do your writing?

Anywhere - on trains, in cafes, sitting around at home.

Q: What are the best and worst things about being an author?

The uncertainty of the blank page, before you start writing. That's the best and the worst thing - exciting & scary at the same time.

Q: Where do you get your greatest ideas from?

From life - from things my children say, from what I overhear or read about. Ideas can come from anywhere, you just have to listen for them.

Q: Which of your own characters do you most identify with?

Kevin, the three-headed man that lived in the bottom of a pond, until he made a break for it...

Q: What do you do to combat “writers’ block”?

Write. And read my favourite writers, to remind me what it's all about.

Q: What was your favourite book as a child?

The Dandy Annual.

Q: What book do you wish you had written?

Wuthering Heights is one of my favourite books, but only Emily Bronte could have written it, and I wouldn't want to be Emily Bronte.

Q: What advice would you give to aspiring authors?

Read as much as you can. Read the writers you love to read. Keep a notebook. Write and keep writing.